Chapter 36 - Catching the Ghost Lamp Clan, Not a Waste!

Suigetsu (the man from the Watermelon Mountain Pufferfish), grinned slightly, his hair and the mist obscuring his movements. His sword, Samehada, suddenly swept out towards Kyōen's side.

Kakashi immediately stepped forward to block.

However, very quickly, he felt—

This sword wasn’t right; it seemed to be absorbing his chakra.

Swoosh!

Samehada’s edge scraped across, wounding Kisame but eventually cutting through his restraints.

He gritted his teeth and, despite the pain, kicked out at Kyōen, trying to free himself.

Suigetsu, agile as ever, spun his sword and slashed again. Though Kyōen dodged, the chakra he had been gathering was swiftly consumed.

"I can’t fight!" Kyōen cursed inwardly, finally understanding just how frustrating it was to fight against Samehada.

The two immediately turned to flee.

Suigetsu quickly gave chase, his face twisted in a sinister grin.

Kakashi saw the situation and immediately said, "You go first; I'll hold him off!"

"No, we should leave together..." Kyōen’s words were cut short.

Suigetsu’s expression suddenly changed, and he grabbed Kisame, turning to head toward Pība Jūzō and Gōsu Mayū.

But halfway there, he suddenly changed direction and—

Abandoned the two of them!

Kakashi froze.

He turned to Kyōen with a confused expression.

"Why did he suddenly run away?"

"Sensei made his move." Kyōen whispered.

He paused, letting out a silent sigh of relief.

Jiraiya had cast his net.

Though they scared off Suigetsu, at least they had managed to capture one of the enemies, so it wasn’t a complete loss.

However...

It was unfortunate, though. Suigetsu had probably been warned by Samehada, or else he wouldn’t have noticed.

Croak!

Just as they were letting their guard down, they heard the sound of a frog croaking.

Soon after, a giant toad hopped out, with Jiraiya following behind.

He wore a frustrated expression.

"Sensei."

Kyōen breathed a sigh of relief.

It turned out that Jiraiya had been following them the whole time. Even if Suigetsu had tried to make a move, it would have been hard for them to get killed.

In the critical moment, Jiraiya was still reliable.

"Ugh..." Jiraiya sighed deeply, his face full of regret. "All that effort to fish, and we let the biggest one slip away."

"The one with the big sword?" Kakashi asked.

Jiraiya nodded. "That's Suigetsu, from Watermelon Mountain Pufferfish. His reputation has grown in recent years. I always suspected his sword was odd, and today, I confirmed it."

"His sword can absorb chakra," Kakashi added.

Jiraiya nodded, noticing Kyōen’s thoughtful expression. He immediately asked, "What do you think?"

"He originally intended to head in your direction, but then suddenly ran off. It doesn’t seem like he sensed you, but rather noticed your presence in a different way."

Kyōen explained.

Jiraiya paused in thought for a moment, then nodded. "I had just crawled out of the frog’s mouth and was preparing to use my Barrier Technique to trap him."

"Could it have been chakra?" Kakashi suggested immediately.

Kyōen nodded.

"That’s the only possibility. He must have sensed the chakra from the Barrier Technique, which could be a property of the sword."

"The sword..." Jiraiya pondered.

A sword that could absorb chakra. How strange!

In recent years, Kirigakure (Hidden Mist Village) had not been peaceful. The long-standing peace was truly like a moon reflected in water.

He sighed inwardly.

Then, Jiraiya comforted himself.

"Well, at least the two didn’t escape. One of them is from the Ghost Lamp Clan, and seems to be a genius. They definitely won’t give up easily. It’s not a trip wasted."

He took the lead toward the captured individuals.

Kakashi looked at Kyōen, his gaze full of curiosity.

Kyōen shook his head.

After a moment, they returned to the previous courtyard.

Inside the courtyard, a meat wall was descending, revealing the captured and sealed individual, along with a jar of water and Jiraiya standing next to them.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya’s earlier self had disappeared—it was just a shadow clone.

Kyōen stepped forward.

Pība Jūzō could hardly hide his frustration and anger.

As an elite Jonin, being caught by two lower-ranked ninjas was a huge blow to his pride.

Especially when—

He had been captured alive!

If it weren’t for that punch to his knee, he definitely could have escaped!

Of course...

That was just Pība Jūzō’s inner thought.

In reality, with their abilities, escaping from Jiraiya would have been incredibly difficult.

Jiraiya smiled as he looked at the jar of water.

"Had it not been for catching you, would I have needed to be so cautious? The Ghost Lamp Clan, Orochimaru would be very happy."

"!!!"

At the mention of Orochimaru, Gōsu Mayū inside the jar trembled with fear.

At his current level, he was still far from the power he would achieve in the future. He was around Kyōen and Kakashi's level, still considered a "genius child," while Orochimaru was already a notorious figure in the ninja world.

Unlike Jiraiya...

Orochimaru was said to have an obsession with research. As the master of Water Transformation Technique, how could he not be afraid?

However...

Right now, he was sealed inside the jar, unable to move.

"Sensei, what will happen to them?"

"Capture them. Let Kirigakure redeem them. If not, we can send them for research. Who knows, we might uncover some secrets about the Water Transformation Technique."

Jiraiya had gone to great lengths to capture Gōsu Mayū, and he wasn’t doing it for fun.

Kirigakure wasn’t the same as it used to be.

For simple individuals, capturing them didn’t really help much; Kirigakure could easily just turn their backs.

But the Ghost Lamp Clan was different.

This clan held great influence in Kirigakure, with significant power and influence—capturing one might be even more important than capturing a Jonin.

For example—

Jiraiya looked toward the injured Jonin from Kirigakure.

"You, a Jonin, reduced to this... this is really embarrassing."

"..."

Pība Jūzō nearly vomited blood.

His lapse in judgment had led to such a situation, and he could never have imagined this.

If he had the chance to do it again, he would never have been so careless.

He snorted coldly, closing his eyes without saying a word.

"Failure. Everything else is just an excuse. You’re right not to speak." Kyōen added.

Pība Jūzō opened his eyes, glaring at Kyōen.

However...

He had to admit that the little brat was right.

When you fail, everything else is just an excuse.

His voice was hoarse.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing. We’ll wait for your village to redeem you. Heh heh... a Jonin, a Ghost Lamp Clan member... that’s definitely worth a lot, right?"

"..."

Pība Jūzō fell silent, but inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief.

At least he wouldn’t die.

He wasn’t afraid of death, but if he could survive, no one wanted to die for no reason.

Jiraiya made a clone and locked them away.

Then, he went upstairs to find Matsuyama Ichirō, who had been escorted and protected by Kurenai.

The attack earlier had frightened Matsuyama Ichirō quite a bit.

He had planned to buy more materials in Land of Waves, but after the attack, he had lost all motivation and immediately decided to return home and not linger any longer.

Money could always be earned again.

But once life was lost, nothing remained.

A restless night quickly came to an end. Kakashi, Kyōen, and Kurenai sat together, the atmosphere was tense for a while.

After a long time, Kyōen spoke first.

"Ahem, it was a bit unfair to hide this from everyone."

"I was worried all night!" Kurenai glared with wide eyes.

Kakashi didn’t sayChapter 36: Catching the Ghost Lamp Clan, Not a Waste! anything. He had almost let Kyōen go first, so he too was prepared for the worst.

In the end...

Jiraiya had never left, always staying in the shadows.

"Alright, stop worrying about the details. The outcome is good, and the idea was sensei's. I only got called in the middle of the night and had no clue!"